How can you tell is someone is faking wealth?

[Teadrinker11]

When the hell is someone genuinely wealthy rather than just trying to be all flash but when in truth there's no real money behind the facade?

My Grandfather in law is reasonably wealthy, but you wouldn't know it to look at him or how he lives. He lives in the same two bed house he bought 60 years ago with his wife, he wears joggers and jumpers, and pops to the local Carvery one a week with his mate. He's super low key, the area he lives in isn't fancy, and he likes a nice quiet life. He doesn't brag. He owns nice expensive things, but if you were to ask him about it he'd give a non answer like "oh that, just a little thing I found, nothing fancy"

Whereas a friend of dh is the kind who fakes it. Constantly talking about how he's buying a bmw, remodelling his kitchen for 30k, thinking of booking a holiday to Bali etc ... yet these things never happen. He brags about what he "can afford" to do, yet he never does it.

Has to laugh when the Mrs Bucket MN crowd give answers to things like this. Every post reads like a stereotype from a Daily Mail article. Extra fun when they list in-depth reasoning too!

I grew up fairly wealthy, parents liked yachting and I knew multiple wealthy families in the yacht club/marina. To be quite honest, you can’t really tell who has money or not because everyone is different.

Rich people also have their own stresses, like HMRC coming to do an audit, businesses failing or family dying. This notion that rich people are all happy and carefree is nonsense of the highest order!

IMHO unless you’ve experienced it, you’ll never guess correctly. Just like social class, you can’t just pretend to be something you’re not. There are too many niche experiences, too many small things that’ll catch you out!

@MadameHeisenberg

Well it very much depends on your definitions of ‘successful’, ‘high-achieving’, ‘high-earning’, doesn’t it?

I doubt there are many ultra high net worth people on here, because there aren’t that many ultra high net worth people, period. But I’m sure there’s a fair few with important jobs, careers and pretty high salaries (in 6 figures, not 7). I expect the socioeconomic status of MN more or less reflects that of society at large - so a Gaussian curve, but probably without the outliers (i.e. the HNW and very poor).

Make a thread asking who earns over 100,000 and you'll have hundreds of posts. It's amazing how many of them spend their days on here.. 😂

I'm sure some aren't lying, but the majority are.

In my job I get a good look at people's financial circumstances and a lot of people are in eye watering debt living champagne lifestyles
This wouldn't surprise me.
Ive worked with people a year or two out of university who have a new car every couple of years, always an Audi/BMW, by 6 months in they're talking about their next car, endless city breaks, photos in wine bars, heavily branded clothing, etc
They might be loaded, but as an early career teacher I doubt it.

Exactly @AllOfUsAreDead I'm not saying there are absolutely no rich people on here, I'm just saying, I think some people lie about it or exaggerate and the ones who overly brag about it are probably the liars

I can't imagine why anyone would attempt, or even want, to fake wealth. I do understand why someone why someone would not want to plead poverty but to pretend you have a lot when you don't is quite ridiculous.

Sorry to have repeated 'why someone'; don't know how (or why) that happened.

@didshedidntshe

Exactly *@AllOfUsAreDead* I'm not saying there are absolutely no rich people on here, I'm just saying, I think some people lie about it or exaggerate and the ones who overly brag about it are probably the liars

Yeah it's what @MadameHeisenberg said, this site, like most sites, will just represent society as a whole. The majority on here are your average person living their average life. Then you've got your few minority cases of the very poor/very wealthy. The constant talk about how mn is definitely mainly upper class, rich people as I've seen people say is hilarious because its just not. Nothing wrong with that either, no point trying to make out that it's an elitist forum like some seem to think. You've got everything on here from people who are unfortunately homeless and struggling, to people on benefits, to people working in factories, offices, private sector, public sector etc to the higher paid jobs and then the very wealthy whether that is 'old' inheritated money or 'new' money (lottery or otherwise). But the former and the latter options will always be the least amount of people. The people working for salaries of up to say 20-75k will be your biggest amount of people on here.

Since selling my business and realising the capital tied up in it I am much more careful. It is harder spending your own money than spending someone else’s via loans and leasing.
In answer to your question I would say that the more someone flashes the cash the less likely it is theirs to flash.

@AllOfUsAreDead yeah, this is exactly what I meant when I said that people earning £80k a year are in the top 5% of earners, and I don't believe that all the top 5% of earners are spending their time on Mumsnet

According to the majority of MN it's very easy to tell, those with millions and billions are shuffling around beltless with holes in their shoes and clothes, driving old bangers however they'll have nice teeth, good manners and children in private school.
Everyone else is poor, is pretending not to be poor or is rich but might as well be poor because they are new money and therefore vulgar.

Tbh I would consider 6 figures high earning, and I also still don't really believe people earning 6 figure salaries would be on online forums especially considering the amount of people on her who claim that.. 🤷🏼‍♀️ if you earn £80k for example then you're in the top 5% of earners in the UK.. I just don't believe that the top 5% of earners in the country are all traipsing through Mumsnet

Why?

Most of these people will be corporate roles who are currently working from home. Perfect setup to spend some time here and there dickimg about on Mumsnet.

I don't think an 80k or low 6-figure salary would allow someone to be "wealthy" in the way that "wealthy" is being described on this thread. Not unless they've inherited their property/money or are old enough to have bought their first property 20+ years ago.

A 100k salary will net you approx 5k a month. A mortgage on a 500k house with a 10% deposit will be 2k per month. Bills will need about 1k or more, cars more again.

It doesn't actually leave that much, certainly not enough to live the sort of lifestyle people on here are considering "how the actually wealthy live".

@Angrymum22

Since selling my business and realising the capital tied up in it I am much more careful. It is harder spending your own money than spending someone else’s via loans and leasing. In answer to your question I would say that the more someone flashes the cash the less likely it is theirs to flash.

So Richard Branson and others who have mega luxury yachts do not really have any cash?

I have worked for serious "old money" for years and one thing I know is that they don't flaunt it. Clothes will be very good quality but worn until they are very old before being replaced. Furniture is excellent but gets handed down from one generation to the next. The only time the people I worked for bought new furniture was when the children married and set up their own homes.

Shooting weekends (with owned guns - not borrowed), a lot of country walking (!), dogs everywhere, never flash stuff - new things always of a hugely understated elegance and excellent fit. Hand made shoes because they last longer.

Stuff like that.

Oh yes, hand made shirts and bespoke suits - again, they last longer and work out cheaper in the long run....

@FlipFlops4Me

Oh how much better they sound than the rest of us plebs and the trashy fake-real money types! Obviously we’ll never reach the lofty heights of their hugely understated elegance because of our inferior breeding!

🤢🤢🤮

Nothing says understated like a shooting weekend 🙄

@FlipFlops4Me

Oh yes, hand made shirts and bespoke suits - again, they last longer and work out cheaper in the long run....

Please God, no one trot out the Vimes boots theory, please.

[quote MadameHeisenberg]@FlipFlops4Me

Oh how much better they sound than the rest of us plebs and the trashy fake-real money types! Obviously we’ll never reach the lofty heights of their hugely understated elegance because of our inferior breeding!

🤢🤢🤮[/quote]
Didn't say I approved, or anything like it. That's just how they were.

I've been a card carrying Labour Party member since I was old enough to vote but on the other hand - I need to eat too, and work is work.

Please God, no one trot out the Vimes boots theory, please.

@FlipFlops4Me
Fair enough!

Don’t believe in the “if they are wealthy they don’t show it” I have family members who live in luxury and def show it off and I know they have very good businesses multi millionaires with a lot of savings and money

@Monopolyiscrap

Royal yacht

Hugh Grosvenor, the second Duke of Westminster, with Flying Cloud, a four-mast, black-hulled, white-decked yacht with a 40-member crew.

No longer a royal yacht

1 aristocrat then ?

if you earn £80k for example then you're in the top 5% of earners in the UK.. I just don't believe that the top 5% of earners in the country are all traipsing through Mumsnet

The problem with the 5% of earners statistic is that's it's just for PAYE isn't it? Lots of high earners do not get paid that way

@FlipFlops4Me

I have worked for serious "old money" for years and one thing I know is that they don't flaunt it. Clothes will be very good quality but worn until they are very old before being replaced. Furniture is excellent but gets handed down from one generation to the next. The only time the people I worked for bought new furniture was when the children married and set up their own homes.

Shooting weekends (with owned guns - not borrowed), a lot of country walking (!), dogs everywhere, never flash stuff - new things always of a hugely understated elegance and excellent fit. Hand made shoes because they last longer.

Stuff like that.

And filthy houses because they're too important for cleaning!